The Taney statue was targeted for removal because of his authorship of the Supreme Court's notorious Dred Scott decision, which ruled that blacks were not citizens and that Congress did not have the authority to regulate slavery.

By Billy Kirk |
Jul 28, 2017

In the aftermath of the Charlottesville violence, which left one woman dead and others injured, the city of Baltimore, Maryland, removed four Confederate monuments overnight. The action came after a vote by the City Council to destroy the statues, a report by The Baltimore Sun said.

The Charlottesville rally by groups of neo-Nazis and white supremacists was held to protest the proposed removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee.

"They needed to come down," said Catherine Pugh, Baltimore's Democratic mayor on Wednesday morning, as reported by The Atlantic. "We moved as quickly as we could."

The monuments taken down include the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument, erected in 1903 by the Maryland Daughters of the Confederacy; the Confederate Women's Monument, dedicated in 1917; the Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson Monument, dedicated in 1948; and the Roger B. Taney Monument, erected in 1887.

The Taney statue was targeted for removal because of his authorship of the Supreme Court's notorious Dred Scott decision, which ruled that blacks were not citizens and that Congress did not have the authority to regulate slavery.

"I'm proud that the city moved so quickly," said local activist Kwame Rose, in The Atlantic report. "I think it stands to show that Baltimore will come to be one of those cities even after having so much negative press in the past that becomes a guiding light."

Comments

Read on for more of Travelerseek's advice, and tell us what indispensable lessons you've learned on the road in the comments below — or on Twitter with hashtag @travelerseek